Current:Home > FinanceHunter Biden's indictment stopped at gun charges. But more may be coming -MarketStream
Hunter Biden's indictment stopped at gun charges. But more may be coming
View
Date:2025-04-17 13:21:07
The indictment of Hunter Biden on Thursday made one thing all but certain: President Joe Biden will embark on a 2024 reelection bid dogged once again by his son's tumultuous business and personal life.
The younger Biden is facing felony charges related to false statements in purchasing a firearm, and a third count of illegally obtaining a firearm while addicted to drugs. But with prosecutors continuing to scrutinize his overseas business deals and financial records, the gun charges might soon be just one thread in a potential web of legal troubles.
In June, Hunter Biden struck a plea agreement with prosecutors that would have allowed him to plead guilty to a pair of misdemeanor tax offenses -- before the deal fell apart during a court hearing in July after U.S. Judge Maryellen Noreika expressed concern over the structure of the agreement.
MORE: Hunter Biden indicted by special counsel on felony gun charges
Special counsel David Weiss subsequently withdrew the two tax charges in Delaware with the intention of bringing them in California and Washington, D.C. -- the venues where the alleged misconduct occurred.
Investigators have examined whether Hunter Biden paid adequate taxes on millions of dollars of his income, including money he made from multiple overseas business ventures. ABC News previously reported that in 2022, he borrowed $2 million from his lawyer and confidant Kevin Morris to pay the IRS for back taxes, penalties and liens that he owed.
Prosecutors have not offered a timeline for the tax charges.
Meanwhile, the president's political foes have latched onto Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings to level allegations depicting the entire Biden family as corrupt, despite uncovering no clear evidence to date indicating that Joe Biden profited from or meaningfully endorsed his son's work.
"Today's charges are a very small start, but unless U.S. Attorney Weiss investigates everyone involved in the fraud schemes and influence peddling, it will be clear President Biden's DOJ is protecting Hunter Biden and the big guy," House Oversight Chair James Comer said in a statement to ABC News, referencing unproven allegations against Hunter Biden and his father.
MORE: Timeline: Hunter Biden under legal, political scrutiny
Comer said Republicans are looking for indictments related to "money laundering, violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, tax evasion, the list goes on and on."
A White House spokesperson has said that "congressional Republicans, in their eagerness to go after President Biden regardless of the truth, continue to push claims that have been debunked for years," and that President Biden "was never in business with his son."
veryGood! (5)
Related
- 3 years after the NFL added a 17th game, the push for an 18th gets stronger
- Wildfire map: Thousands of acres burn near New Jersey-New York border; 1 firefighter dead
- Saks Fifth Avenue’s holiday light display in Manhattan changing up this season
- Why have wildfires been erupting across the East Coast this fall?
- 51-year-old Andy Macdonald puts on Tony Hawk-approved Olympic skateboard showing
- CFP bracket prediction: SEC adds a fifth team to field while a Big Ten unbeaten falls out
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Mixed Use
- What does the top five look like and other questions facing the College Football Playoff committee
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Wind-whipped wildfire near Reno prompts evacuations but rain begins falling as crews arrive
Ranking
- Vance jokes he’s checking out his future VP plane while overlapping with Harris at Wisconsin airport
- Jury awards Abu Ghraib detainees $42 million, holds contractor responsible
- West Virginia governor-elect Morrisey to be sworn in mid-January
- Brian Austin Green’s Fiancée Sharna Burgess Celebrates Megan Fox’s Pregnancy News
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Steelers' Mike Tomlin shuts down Jayden Daniels Lamar comparison: 'That's Mr. Jackson'
- Queen Bey and Yale: The Ivy League university is set to offer a course on Beyoncé and her legacy
- Olivia Munn Says She “Barely Knew” John Mulaney When She Got Pregnant With Their Son
Recommendation
Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie return for an 'Encore,' reminisce about 'The Simple Life'
Voters in California city reject measure allowing noncitizens to vote in local races
DWTS' Sasha Farber Claps Back at Diss From Jenn Tran's Ex Devin Strader
Queen Bey and Yale: The Ivy League university is set to offer a course on Beyoncé and her legacy
What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
Bears fire offensive coordinator Shane Waldron amid stretch of 23 drives without a TD
Saving for retirement? How to account for Social Security benefits
Video shows Starlink satellite that resembled fireball breaking up over the Southwest: Watch